Almost everyone I know has had a moment where they looked at the number on their scale and said, “Oh, dang it!” After all, maintaining a healthy weight is easier said than done when the vast majority of jobs are sedentary in nature and it’s often easier, and cheaper, to eat fast food.
One of the problems with the obesity epidemic that’s sweeping the nation is that it has an impact on more than just American pant sizes. Health insurance companies are starting to take notice of the greater cost of providing coverage to obese individuals.
Obesity brings along with it a host of health problems like high blood pressure, heart disease, and some kinds of cancer. Health insurance companies are starting to push for increased premiums to account for the added costs of an obese lifestyle.
Some states have chosen to respond to this pressure from health insurance companies by rewarding employees who take positive steps toward a healthier lifestyle. Alabama, however, has taken a different approach by giving its employees a deadline for getting healthier. If the deadline isn’t met, obese who work for the state of Alabama will have to pay $25/month for insurance that is currently free to Alabama state employees.
While I see the reasoning behind this decision, I take issue with how it’s being enforced. The health of Alabama state employees is being evaluated using the Body Mass Index (BMI) which is, in my opinion, not the most accurate measurement of health.
The BMI measures body fat using your height and weight, but the problem with it is that it doesn’t account for muscle or build. For example, my friend and I are both tall (almost 5’11”) but we couldn’t be built any differently. She’s slender, has a tiny frame, and according to the BMI she is a normal weight.
I, on the other hand, am considerably more muscular, have a medium frame, and, thanks to my Hispanic heritage, am very curvy. According to the BMI, I am nearly obese. If I adhere to the BMI, I will have to lose 40lbs and will probably look skeletal.
There are much better indicators of health available out there but they are probably either too expensive or too time-consuming to use in this circumstance. While I understand this, I feel for those Alabama workers who, like me, do not quite fit into the BMI mold.
I support the idea of giving employees incentives for making healthy changes in their lives, but I don’t agree with using a one-size-fits-all system to assess whether or not someone will have to pay more for health insurance that is free for everyone else.
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